Israeli authorities have been condemned over the "systematic targeting" of Palestinian athletes after two members of the women's football team were detained.
The Palestine Football Association criticised the "unjust arrest" of Rand Al Halawani, 20, and Natalie Abu Dayyeh, 21. Both players have represented Palestine internationally.
Abu Dayyeh was one of four people arrested in an Israeli raid on student accommodation near Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, local media reported. She is a media and journalism student at the university and plays football for Diyar Women.
Israeli authorities later detained Al Halawani after summoning her to the Talpiot police station in West Jerusalem. Her detention has since been extended until next Friday by an Israeli court order, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
"Rand and Natalie are young international players who have proudly represented Palestine at both youth and senior levels," the association said in a statement.
It said their arrests were "part of a well-documented pattern of systematic targeting of Palestinian athletes, which continues without accountability". Palestinian athletes are "routinely denied freedom of movement, safety and the basic right to participate in sport under equal conditions, rights that Fifa explicitly guarantees to all players worldwide without discrimination", it added.
The association also called on Fifa, football's global governing body, and the international sporting community to take "concrete disciplinary action ... to address these ongoing violations".
Violence in the West Bank has escalated in recent years, with Israel intensifying military operations in the territory since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
